How to Blow Dry Hair for Bouncy Volume

We’ve probably all blow-dried our hair more than a hundred times in our lifetime, but with blow-drying, practice doesn’t always make perfect, especially if you never learned how to properly blow-dry for your hair type or for your desired result. 

If you’ve never learned how to blow dry your hair for volume, you’re in luck. Whether you have thin hair, thick hair, straight hair, or curly hair types, we’ll teach you how to achieve a salon-quality blowout that produces bouncy volume, glorious shine, and long-lasting style. 

Packed with prep tips and products like hair volume spray, here’s your step-by-step guide on how to blow dry hair for volume from home.

Step 1: Wash With Volumizing Products

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: voluminous hair starts in the shower. Prep your hair for maximum volume with the right shampoo and conditioner. Our Full Shampoo & Conditioner are formulated for fine hair to help it look and feel naturally fuller. When you first focus on cleansing your hair from heavy buildup and residue and conditioning it with a lightweight formula, you are setting your blowout up for success. 

Step 2: Blot Dry

When you exit the shower, the next phase in the process of the perfect blowout begins. Wet hair is ultra-sensitive so it’s important to dry it gently with a method called “blot drying”. 

Instead of rubbing your hair roughly with a terry towel, gently blot it dry. Better yet, use a microfiber towel and let it absorb the moisture as you get dressed or complete your skincare routine. Then, spritz a light detangling spray throughout your hair and gently comb or brush through it. 

Step 3: Apply Product

Next, you need to support your hair in its journey to becoming bouncy and voluminous as best you can. This means, applying some performance-ready hair volumizing products. We recommend starting with Living Proof’s Root Lift on damp hair to add flexible, touchable volume to your hair at the roots. Then, apply a volumizing mousse such as our Thickening Mousse from roots to ends or a volumizing cream such as our Thickening Cream from mid-lengths to ends. 

Step 4: Prep It 

Before you blow-dry, let your hair air dry as much as possible to protect it from too much heat. Then, before you pick up the hairdryer, apply heat protectant spray as the final step to preparing your hair. When you use the Root Lift and/or the Thickening Mousse, you’ll also benefit from heat protection so you can skip this step. 

Prep your blow dryer as well by setting the heat to low and removing the concentrator nozzle to start so you can dry more hair in less time with less damage and produce more volume. 

Step 5: Flip Upside Down 

When you begin to blow dry your hair, don’t do so as you normally would. Instead, flip your head upside down and give your hair a rough dry from underneath. This step is essential to achieve incredible hair volume.

Step 6: Work In Sections 

When your hair is mostly dry, you can return to right-side-up and continue drying. Reapply the concentrator nozzle and divide your hair into sections. Then, work with a round brush, pulling the hair up from the root.  

If you want an alternative to round-brushing your hair, you can also use velcro rollers for bouncy curls or waves. After mostly drying your hair upside down, turn off the heat and fill your head with large rollers from top to bottom, rolling from the bottom of your hair close to the root. If you want to know how to blow dry hair for volume on top, rolling as close to the root as possible with your velcro rollers is key. Also, the bigger the rollers, the looser the curl. Remove the rollers when your hair is completely dry and reveal the most voluminous, bouncy waves you’ve ever seen.

Step 7: Make It Last 

When you’re done blow-drying, blast your style with a hair volume spray like Dry Volume Blast to add as much finished texture and volume as you want that will last. Then, there’s one last step to ensure your voluminous style stays. Lock it in by setting it with a spray that offers flexible hold such as our Style Lab Blowout. 

The best part about a great blowout is that it means great hair for days. Try to use dry shampoo on days 3 and 4 or 5 to breathe new life into your blowout and continue to amp up the volume. 

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